Juunishi no Daaku
by GeorgeHaters
Summary: You all know the story of how the cat was left out of the zodiac, well... you don't know the half of it yet! Introducing a piece of the legend previously left out; what problems will this bring for the Sohma's?
1. A Legend Told Only in Part

**_Disclaimer: Hello... umm none of us own FB at all... we own nothing more save the characters, plot, story idea, and umm... Amber-chan owns the Dark Zodiac._**

**Once upon a time, long long ago, there lived an Emperor. He ruled over his land benevolently and cherished every living creature in it. As he was taking a quiet stroll through the forest one afternoon, a very philosophical question plagued his mind,**

"**How can we tell how long we've been on this world, or how long we have left on it? We live our lives day by day, but we don't really keep count well..." After some thought, the Emperor decided to use the yearly calendar; only, he would change it to include twelve animals to represent a cycle. **

"**Now, which animals should I choose... there are so many..." The emperor said in apprehension. That night, in his chambers, he posed the question to his wife. After some thought, she smiled and said, **

"**Why don't you hold a competition, dear? I know you love all the creatures of this world, but perhaps you should only use the first twelve that complete a competition to represent your years." The emperor smiled, his wife had a good point; he would hold a race through the toughest part of his kingdom. The next day, the Emperor went through the wilds of his forests and the towns and villages, telling all the animals about the race that was to take place the next day. **

**One of the town cats looked up in interest at the Emperors words but sighed in dismay, "I would love to participate... but I'm so small, and I hate water. I've hunted in that forest and I know of the huge river that courses through it."**

**A nearby rat, who also heard the news, scurried up to the distraught feline timidly, "It is true, both you and I are small, but I know a way we can get through the race fairly quickly; I'll agree to share my secret with you if you promise not to eat me."**

**Curiosity had this cat's ears pricked forward, prepared to listen, "I won't eat you, how can we get through the race with so many other animals to contend with?"**

**  
The small rat grinned, "I'm sure the ox has heard the news by now; he's normally up with the rising sun, we might be able to convince him to allow us to ride on his back for part of the race."**

**  
The cat purred in delight, "Good idea, rat. Let's go ask the Ox to wake us for the race!" Together, the two animals raced off to the pasture where Ox was grazing to ask for his help.**

**Ox looked up from eating as he noticed the little cat racing towards him with a rat on it's head, "Well, that's something I've never seen before..."**

**  
When they reached the big creature, rat spoke up, "Hello, Ox, have you heard the news?"  
"I have, the emperor plans to test us of our worth by holding a race tomorrow." The ox replied.**

**The cat's whiskers twitched nervously, "Do you, uh; do you think you could wake us up tomorrow when you wake?"**

"**We wish to get a head start on some of the larger animals, but I fear we won't be able to keep up well with such short legs..." Rat echoed, a sneaky grin in his mind.**

"**Sure... I have no problem waking the two of you up, and to solve the problem of short legs, I shall let you ride on my back when your legs grow tired. We'll travel together." The Ox nodded. The next morning, as promised, Ox woke both the cat and the rat up and together they headed for the forest. They were up before the sun had risen and as such, Cat was rather drowsy. While picking their way carefully through the dark forest, they saw, smelled, and heard other animals awaking and beginning their journey in the race.**

**Eventually the trio made it to the raging river to find animals already on the other side with the emperor.**

"**Oh no... I hate water, there's no way I can swim across," The cat meowed fearfully.**

"**Do not worry, you and rat may ride on my back, I can swim across" Ox knelt down for the two creatures to climb on; "We need to hurry if we want to have a place in the zodiac." The cat and the rat did as they were told and were soon floating across the water on the ox's back. The rat looked uneasily at the number of **

**animals already on the opposite bank and decided he needed to knock off some competition for a place in the zodiac.**

"**Hey, look at all the tasty fish swimming below us!" He said slyly to the feline beside him.**

**The cat looked into the water hungrily, "My, they do look tasty; I haven't eaten since last night..." The rat took this opportunity to bite down on the poor cat's tail hard, causing her to jump in pain and fall off the Ox.**

**Splashing and sputtering in the churning water of the river Cat yowled, "What'd you do that for, Rat?!" Rat didn't hear her, for he had set his sights on the far bank of the river. Already assembled on the other side of the river were a few animals that lived in the forest already and had a head start. Rat could tell that a Ferret had claimed first place, a water buffalo behind her for second. Lazily sleeping nearby was a lion, who had claimed third place. As the rat silently urged the determined ox to swim faster, a small weasel darted across the finish line to claim fourth place.**

"**Ox, we'll never make it in time, 4 places have already been won!" The Rat complained.**

"**I'm swimming as fast as I can, the current here is very strong." The Ox grunted. As he spoke, his hooves were nudged by something below the water's surface. As he faltered in his swimming, the form swam quickly away from him and towards the bank. Poking its head out of the water as it reached the shallow waters, a small freshwater shark called to the Emperor,**

"**I cannot make it to shore, but I have swam so far, can I still claim a spot?"**

**The emperor smiled and nodded, pleased to see his plan working. He had 5 animals for his zodiac cycle so far and more were coming. Meanwhile, the cat struggled in the strong current to swim to the finish line; pitiful mews came from her mouth as wave after wave of water crashed over her head. As she struggled a small lizard crossed the finish line, running at full speed on his hind legs.**

"**What a peculiar creature..." The Emperor admired the small animal.**

**While admiring the lizard, a timid deer emerged from the thick brush to finish as 7th.**

"**Welcome, gentle creature!" The Emperor smiled upon seeing it.**

**Back in the river, Rat was practically pulling out his fur, "We'll never make it in time!"**

"**Be patient little rat, I'm almost there!" Ox reassured, getting a little weary himself. Farther downstream, running along the river on the far side was a lone wolf who had apparently crossed at a more shallow part of the river; he was followed by a smaller dog. Dog was barking like a lunatic as she raced at the wolf's heels. As Ox thought he would make it to the other side a log suddenly slammed into him, having been washed down with the current. Rat was almost knocked off but held on as ox floundered in the water. During this time Goat used the log to jump onto and bridge the gap to the next stone. He jumped from that one to shore and took 8th place. While all this was going on, a lemur was launching itself from one tree to another as he crossed the river. He dropped from his tree and sat before the emperor in 9th place.**

"**Wow... 9 animals already, only 3 more to go!" The emperor exclaimed.**

**Cat swam vigorously, managing to climb onto the log. She looked at the shore sadly as the river's current washed the log downstream. She passed the wolf and dog as the wolf had turned to snap at the annoying mutt. While dodging the sharp teeth of the wolf, Dog caught sight of cat sailing by helplessly on the log and dashed off the way she came to help her. When wolf resumed running, he saw a hawk swoop down to take 10th place in this race. Not willing to be outdone by any other animals, he made sure he had 11th place. Just when Ox finally had the pebbles of the shore beneath his hooves, a bear ambled across the finish line. Sadly, ox dropped his head, and rat cursed at their horrid luck. Behind them, and around them, other animals had gathered; all too late to take a place in the zodiac. Tiger, Boar, Monkey, Snake, rabbit, rooster, horse, sheep, and dragon gathered around the emperor, exhausted from their journey. Downstream, dog came bounding towards the group, cat dangling from her jaws. After setting her down, dog barked out excitedly.**

"**Look, look! I found a cat; did we make it to the zodiac??"**

**Shaking his head, the Emperor replied, "I'm sorry, loyal dog, but the twelve positions have already been filled. Thank you all for trying; Ferret, Water Buffalo, Lion, Weasel, Shark, Lizard, Deer, Goat, Lemur, Hawk, Wolf, and Bear will all represent one year in the 12 year cycle."**

**An angry roar erupted from the tree branch above as a panther dropped down, glaring at the emperor, "Ridiculous! We've all traveled long and hard and played your game, we should all have a year named after us!" **

"**But then we would have a 26 year cycle, that's way too long to keep track of!" The emperor protested, made uneasy by the gleaming golden eyes amidst the dark fur.**

"**This is stupid! I travel from my calm jungle to please you, and I don't get anything in return for my efforts!?" Panther hissed with rage.**

"**It was not just you who lost out, Panther. We all failed to make it in time..." Cat stated in a sad mew.**

"**I am sorry, there's nothing I can do.... These twelve creatures were the first to cross my finish line; I must honor them with the zodiac years." The Emperor bowed his head in apology.**

"**Quit complaining already; just take the fact that you lost and go home!" Wolf snarled irritated.**

"**That was very rude, Wolf." Ferret squeaked, "Why don't we all have a party to celebrate the success of our great journeys?" She turned to the other 14 animals, "You are free to come and play with us."**

**Rat smiled in gratitude, "Thank you for your kind offer, I will accept."**

**Ox nodded, "So will I."**

**Cat agreed as well, so did the other animals present... except the Panther.**

"**I don't have time to waste on a victory party that really isn't in my name," Glaring at the emperor, he padded back into the forest he came from. He decided he'd wait till tomorrow to leave, and that he needed rest. Later that night, in a small clearing in the woods, the 25 animals partied and had a great time. The panther lay nearby, trying to sleep. Before it got too late, rat realized that the zodiac winners of the race had no intentions of sleeping anytime soon and a plan soon formulated in his mind. He privately spoke with each of the losing animals and a half hour later, they all started to leave, each talking about what they would have to do the next day. The cat seemed to be the only one against the plan, she hissed at the rat.**

"**Leave me out of your cunning scheming you traitorous rodent... I should have eaten you before I made my promise." With that, she turned and bounded off into the underbrush.**

"**Well good... at least we won't have to explain to the emperor why we brought 13 animals instead of 12..." The rat grinned.**

**Stalking through the greenery, tail twitching behind her quite irritably, the cat left to vent somewhere. 'I must get revenge on that damn rat...He's trying to trick animals again... but how?' lost in these incoherent thoughts, Cat didn't realize that she had stumbled upon Panther, growling slightly at the sleep he couldn't receive because of all the racket the other animals were making. Hearing the brush nearby move as some animal made its way through it; Panther sprang to his paws, pouncing at the unfortunate creature. Cat immediately surfaced from her thinking with a hiss of surprise as the huge feline was suddenly upon her. Her eyes widened at the gleaming white fangs that were bared. Panther blinked at the cat, but got up seeing as she was no threat to him,**

"**So, have enough partying?" He snarled with resentment.**

"**No, not really... a certain rat killed my partying fun though." Cat replied, still a little ticked off from Rat's plans.**

"**What'd the rodent do to you, and why didn't you just eat him?" Panther asked. Cat told Panther all about the deal she and rat made and how he double crossed her and was trying to take victory from the zodiac winners.**

"**Well... as much as I resent the other animals for winning...it's not their fault the emperor couldn't bless us all...We've got to make sure the zodiac animals make it to the banquet tomorrow!" Panther growled.**

"**Right...are we going to wake them tomorrow and make sure they make it on time?" Cat asked unsurely.**

**Panther grinned, "Of course dear cat!" 'Then maybe we'll get the reward we deserve for participating in this stupid event...' he thought darkly to himself.**

**The two felines slept side by side that night, prepared to wake up bright and early to drag the other animals to their paws/hooves/hands for the banquet. Before the sun rose the next morning, Rat and Ox were up and about, rounding up all the other animals to attend the banquet in place of the ones who would surely be asleep. All twelve animals had already begun their parade to the Emperor's palace when Panther and Cat woke up.**

"**Grr... We're late, hurry up cat!" Panther rumbled as he sprinted to the site of the party the night before. Cat followed obediently and together they roused the zodiac group. Meanwhile, as the animals were let into the banquet hall, the Emperor had a very perplexed look on his face. The animals lined up in front of him; Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.**

"**W-what's the meaning of this," The Emperor spoke at last, "You are not the 12 animals that won my race!"**

**Rat smiled apologetically, "That we are not, but try as we might, sir, we could not wake them from their slumber this morning. They partied late into the night, disturbing the peaceful rest of the animals around them without shame. And now they lazily sleep the day away; I'm afraid they have forgotten your banquet."**

**The Emperor seemed to be irritated by this, "So you decided to take it upon yourselves to come in their places?"**

**  
Rat looked taken back by the accusing tone in his voice, "Sir, we were just making sure you had animals to present to your people for the calendar cycle... We tried to wake up the zodiac winners, but we couldn't!"**

**The Emperor's face was red with anger, but his voice came out clear and controlled, "Very well then... you 12 animals will represent my 12 year cycle... But do not think you will be getting off without punishment." He stopped to force a smile, "Please, help yourselves to the food I have had prepared for you all."**

**  
Rat was a little frightened by the emperor's words; what sort of punishment would be given? He joined the other 11 animals and gladly took the food offered and mingled with everyone else. It was during this that the zodiac animals burst into the hall. Rat looked up in shock to see Cat pounce upon him.**

"**W-what are you doing here?! I thought you hated my plan!" Rat sputtered, looking into the golden eyes of the cat upon him.**

"**I do, with a passion do I hate it... that's why I've brought the rightful winners of this banquet with me." Cat replied icily, baring her fangs at the trapped rat. Dog, seeing the wolf from the day before, happily began barking and ran up to him. Wolf snarled in return and lashed out at the stupid dog; earning a frightened yelp. Ferret climbed up Cat's back to glare at Rat,**

"**How could you steal this victory from us?! Cat was right, you are a cheat!"**

**Rat looked around in shock as the animals began fighting with one another. **

**Monkey and lemur were using the lovely food that the emperor had laid out for them as projectile weapons; Wolf lunged at dog, snapping powerful jaws that would surely crush bones if they found their target; Goat and sheep were butting heads; Deer was powerfully ramming his antlers into Horse's ribs and neck; Dragon was uninterestedly sitting by and watching as shark flopped about in front of him; Snake and lizard were trading blows, lizard having the upper hand with legs; Bear was angrily chasing Boar around the room; Tiger and Lion were fighting viciously; Hawk was swooping down upon Rooster, slicing at it with furious talons; Weasel and Rabbit were squeaking their differences as painful teeth bit into one another; and Ox and Water Buffalo were head butting each other with dangerous force and power. During all this commotion, Panther sat back and watched, a cunning gleam in his narrowed eyes. The Emperor, upon hearing the commotion, burst into the room to behold its destruction by these warring animals. **

**Wrathfully, he bellowed,**

"**Stop your fighting, this instant!" **

**Immediately, several pairs of eyes looked in his direction... a mixture of feeling portrayed in each of them.**

"**I am very disappointed in this behavior! My 12-year cycle models, and my zodiac winners; I am fed up with the both of you. All the deceit and irresponsibility will stop... and I will punish all of you for destroying my beautiful dining hall and banquet!" He growled. Cat looked around fearfully, 'What have we done?' She thought in panic. Scowling, Panther decided it was time for him to leave and turned to slip into the shadows; unfortunately, the Emperor caught this motion and ceased his movement.**

"**Where do you think you're going, Panther? Are you not the one who initiated this chaos?" He accused.**

**Panther, knowing he had been caught, turned and sent a defiant gaze into the Emperor's eyes, "Yes... It was my idea, and it worked quite well, don't you think?"**

**The Emperor growled furiously, "For your impudence, you shall be punished worst of all... And you, cat! For joining up with this rogue... you shall receive a more severe punishment as well." Outside of the palace, dark storm clouds had begun to gather; rain soon pouring heavily from them. It was into this storm that the 26 animals were released after having a curse placed on each one of them.**

**They were confused at first when nothing happened to them; they figured the emperor was just trying to scare them. However, when the years drug on and one by one, they all met the end of their animal lives, they found themselves alive yet... caught in some sort of limbo. When finally, the last animal perished, the emperor appeared before the group of unrested spirits and spoke,**

"**You remember, quite some years ago, that I had placed a curse on you, do you not?" Various animals looked at each other before nodding to the Emperor.**

"**It's time for that curse to take place. You will never know true death; I will prolong your lives, but from this time on. You will be forced to live as humans."**

**This statement did not phase most of the animals. Immortality didn't sound too bad; and they had never before been human, so they looked at it as a new opportunity.**

"**Not only will you be human, there is a catch to all this. I will place upon you the curse of your animal forms... years down the line you will grow tired and weary of constant reincarnation. You will never truly be able to fulfill the human emotion of love, for you will become the animal of your past every time you hug one of the opposite sex." He continued, his voice monotone and unfeeling; he turned to the twelve animals who deceived him and stole the privilege of the banquet from the zodiac winners, **

"**This part of the curse will be the only part that applies to you. Rat, you were sneaky and used trickery to get what you desired... but even if your motives were not in the right place, your reasoning was. You will keep your human knowledge and voice during your time spent transformed into an animal; that way you will remember the looks of disgust written on the face of every normal human who transforms you." He looked to the Zodiac group next, **

"**For you... I will make the punishment worse. You were the winners of my race, but disregarding the feelings of the other animals around you; you carried on noisily late into the night. The next morning, you failed to make it to the banquet I had generously prepared for you on time. You instead slept in and therefore also failed to carry out the duties life had given you for the day. For this, not only will you transform whenever hugged, but you will revert to a beastly form of your animal heritage if ever you loose the pendant created to conceal your spirit form. This could cause damage to anything around you as I will also strip away your human thought. The only thing human that shall remain will be your feelings and memories; all else that you do whilst in your true forms will be dictated upon simplistic animal urges." Finally, the Emperor turned to the spirits of the Cat and the Panther, **

"**You two will have it worst of all. Cat will live among the spirits of the tricksters, yet shall never be accepted in their family. She will have the same curse as them plus one other truly horrific beast lurking within. This beast will also have a charmed object to keep it concealed and will keep all human thoughts, emotions, and memories whilst transformed." He paused, **

"**Panther, for your rude and defiant behavior towards me in my own house, and for pitting these two groups of animals against one another, and for tricking cat into helping you; you will have the worst punishment of all. You will live with the zodiac group, but your beastly transformation upon loss of your pendant will most definitely mean destruction and pain for those near you. In that form you will be nothing but a raging beast. I will strip away any coherent thought, and all emotions except rage. All that you will be left with are the memories of the destruction you caused while in that form."**

**With that said, the emperor vanished from their sight and all 26 of them were sent plunging towards earth again, each spirit possessing the body of a human baby, just beginning its growth in it's mother's womb; 13 in two separate families with no knowledge of one another. Unknown to those spirits, the spirit of the Emperor split in two, half possessing the body of one more baby in both families.**

****

**Well, that was the Prologue to Juunishi no Daaku. I hope you enjoyed it - Now I'll tell you a little about this fic. First of all, yes it will have OC inserts and some romance in it, but we do not plan to focus this fic specifically on romance. If all goes well, this story will end up having just about every story genre in it... except maybe mystery XD or is that called...what is it... I dunno, the genre most detective stories are written in -;; sorry... I'm not sure what it's called at the moment. Anyway, this fic will also be a group project. 4 of us in total will be writing on this together, each writing a chapter in turn. To keep from running into conflicts with having the fic on just one Authoress's account, we made a separate account. Also, We hope to have an update every week too. We figure a week is long enough to whip out a chapter, right? So yes! Hope some of you find this fic entertaining and leave nice reviews for us! - Byers!**

**-Furea / Toshi Ishimi  
  
Billy: sneaks in Hey! Hey...Can I say it now? Please? Ah, forget you...PWN'D! Okay I'm done...sneaks out**

**  
  
Authoresses writing this fic (in order of chapter assignments):**

**Furea / Toshi Ishimi**

**Callie Wilson**

**No Chichiri Da**

**Takara Arashi**


	2. Just Another Normal Day in the Life of

A/N: Hey, Callie Wilson here! It's my turn to write a chapter of Juunishi no Daaku, so here we go, hope you enjoy!

The sun shone though the window into Meyumi's eyes. With a turn, she realized she only had an hour to wake everyone up and get them to school. She jumped up and, throwing on a house kimono, ran down the hall. "Girls!" she yelled, "Girls, it's time to get up! Girls!"

Takara opened her eyes a bit; looking around to make sure Meyumi wasn't in the room. Seeing she was alone, she rolled over and closed her eyes. She snuggled into her blanket, feeling cold even though the house was warm. Suddenly she was jolted awake as Meyumi leapt onto her.  
  
"I said WAKE UP!" Meyumi snarled, hands on Takara's shoulders, shaking her violently.  
  
Takara sat up quickly, shoving Meyumi off of her. She stood up and stuck out her tongue angrily at the older girl. "I WAS getting up! I was just cold!" She turned on her heels and walked to her dresser, pulling out her uniform. "Do you MIND?" She asked Meyumi, motioning to her clothes and then the door.  
  
"Oh, yes, of course! I still have to make sure that Kioko and Izunami get up." With that, she stepped out of the room and made her way down the hall to Kioko's room.  
  
Kioko was in her bed still. She was curled up a bit with her head resting on her arms that were outstretched. Meyumi looked into the room. "Kioko! It's time to get up. You're going to be late to school!" she exclaimed.  
  
The black haired girl's head shot up. "What? Late? How?" She didn't allow Meyumi to answer and instead, shoved her out of the room so she could dress.  
  
Meyumi turned to go to Izunami's room and came face to face with the girl. "Oh! Izu-chan, you're already up."  
  
Izunami shrugged. "I'm a light sleeper. And with all the screaming, I couldn't sleep. I started breakfast."  
  
Meyumi stared at the girl, who had started down the stairs, apparently to finish breakfast. "But, everyone's going to be late. There's no time for breakfast…" She shook her head and followed the girl down the stairs.  
  
When Meyumi got down to the kitchen, she found Izunami making rice balls with bacon and scrambled eggs. "Oh, I understand. Thank you, Izu-chan!" She walked over to the counter and picked up a rice ball. She was 26, tall, slender, and had light amber-brown eyes that were covered by a pair of glasses and shiny gray waist-length hair with bangs that went upward for about 2 inches, then fell downward to her chin, framing her face. Her kimono was white, with grey embroidery forming flowered patterns all over it. She had 6 earrings in her ears; 2 earlobe piercings in each ear, with a cartilage piercing in both ears as well. She was a very open person, almost too open. She would always crack perverted jokes, in all sorts of groups, and was actually very overprotective of these girls that were living in her house.  
  
Izunami turned to the girl and smiled. She went back to making the rice balls. She wasn't very good at it, but they served their purpose and stayed together well enough. She was 16, the same height as Meyumi, with a medium build, dark chestnut eyes, and she had cream colored hair with dark brown and black streaks randomly placed throughout it. Her hair was chin-length and layered, always giving it a messy appearance. She was already dressed in her school uniform; she had opted for the long skirted one. She had her earlobes pierced once, and the cartilage on her left ear pierced once. She was a very nervous person; any unknown noise would have her jumping and possibly screaming.  
  
Soon, Takara and Kioko were down in the kitchen as well. Takara walked over and picked up two of the breakfast rice balls. She had dressed in the short-skirted version of the uniform and sat down, beginning to eat one of the rice balls. She was 17, shorter than Izunami and Meyumi, but the same height as Kioko; her body about medium build as well. She had green eyes and sandy blonde hair that went straight down to about mid-back. She was loud, outgoing, and obnoxious. She never knew when to be quiet and Izunami and Kioko were glad she was a year ahead of them, and not able to be in their class.

Kioko smiled a bit, picking up two of the rice balls. She was wearing the medium-length version of the uniform with the skirt coming to her knees. She was 16, the same build as Takara and had translucent blue eyes. Her hair was the most complicated of the four. While the others just let their hair stay where it fell, Kioko actually spent time on hers. It was a jet black, just below shoulder length, and everyday she put it up in two ponytails, one on each side of the top of her head, the bands decorated by a flower. For school, the flowers were a navy blue to match the school uniform. She was sensitive, slightly independent and very straight-forward.  
  
Izunami grabbed two of the rice balls for herself, then grabbed her book bag. "Come on, guys, it's time to go." She started to the door, slipped on her shoes, then ran out to the sidewalk. "Let's go, we're gonna have to run, take the rice balls with you!"

Kioko and Takara shared a look, then followed her as she took off down the sidewalk towards their school. Meyumi walked out and watched them run. "Well, I WAS planning on driving them, but if they really wanted to run…" She shrugged and turned back into the house. "I better get to work." She walked into her office and over to her easel. Picking up her palette, she stared at the blank white canvas. "Hmm…I need inspiration!" She tossed her palette onto the desk and left the house, headed for downtown.

Takara, Kioko, and Izunami arrived at the school, just as the first bell rang. Kioko and Izunami, who were in the same class, ran together to it, while Takara took her sweet time, not really caring if she was late or not. When Takara finally made it to her class, the teacher stared at her. "You're late again, Takara Akuma!" she shouted at Takara.

Takara shrugged. "What can I say? I'm sorry, if that helps at all."  
  
The teacher narrowed her eyes. "Go to the office and get a tardy. And since I know you're going to dilly-dally anyways, you might as well be productive. Take this note to Akiyara-san's class."  
  
Takara nodded. "Okay!" She took the note and left the class room. On her way to the office, she walked by Izunami and Kioko's classroom. She looked in the window and waved to them, but they weren't paying attention, and unfortunately the teacher was about to notice, so she gave up and walked on, looking for Akiyara-san's classroom. Finally, she saw a sign on the door, and knocked. The door was opened by a tall boy with white and black hair. As soon as they connected eyes, Takara felt something strange. And by his expression, he felt it too. It was a weird sensation, she suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable, and felt like she had a reason to be angry at this kid. She glared at him and shoved him out of the way. "I have a note to deliver, punk." she said to him, walking by.  
  
He growled slightly, but tried to ignore her, and went to go sit down next to a short blonde-haired boy. Takara made a mental note that it was strange that the two should be friends. The blonde-haired boy looked up at her, and all at once, the same feeling crashed up within Takara again. She felt utter contempt for these two kids and she didn't know why. All the other kids had looked at her, and she felt nothing, but these two…  
  
"Can I help you?" Akiyara-san asked, standing up and walking towards her.  
  
"I have a note for you from Takeshi-san," she replied, handing the paper to the middle-aged woman. The teacher said thank you, and Takara bowed. She was about to leave, when she stopped and turned around, walking straight over to the two boys. "What are your names?" she asked them.  
  
The taller boy narrowed his eyes. "I'm Hatsuharu Sohma, and this is my cousin, Momiji Sohma. What's yours?"  
  
"Takara Akuma," she replied. "I've never seen you around. Are you new?"  
  
"We've been here since the beginning of the school year," Momiji piped up. Takara notice that while Hatsuharu's voice was cold and full of anger, Momiji's was still cheerful. It was as if he didn't feel any hatred toward her, while Hatsuharu did. They were obviously related, though. That explained how they even knew each other.  
  
"Well, that's interesting then. Maybe I'll see you later," Takara said, trying to act as polite as possible.  
  
"Don't count on it," Hatsuharu muttered. Takara turned back to glare at him once more, then left the classroom and headed to the office to get her tardy.  
  
  
  
Downtown, Meyumi had just gotten out of the car, holding onto a satchel. "Well, I do need to buy some supplies too!" She started walking down the sidewalk, when suddenly she passed a tall man with black hair. Something inside of her twinged, and she suddenly felt threatened by him. "Hey you!" she shouted to him.  
  
He turned around and drawled out, "Yes? Can I help you?"  
  
"There's something about you…" she started. "You give me the heebie jeebies. What are you, some kind of pervert or something? A murder, a rapist? I don't get freaked out about nothing!"  
  
The man's eyes went wide. "Listen, I'm just a humble writer who's working to support a household of me, my two cousins, and their friend. My name is Shigure Sohma, and I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot."  
  
"I'm Meyumi Akuma. I'm an artist, trying to support a household of me and my three cousins. I'm sorry if I've misjudged you, but you creep me out for some reason."  
  
Shigure cocked his head to the side in confusion, eliciting laughter from Meyumi. "What? First I'm a rapist and now I'm funny? What's going on?"  
  
"I'm sorry, it's just, you reminded me so much of a dog just then," Meyumi laughed again, causing Shigure's eyes to go wide for the second time since they met.

He laughed a bit, trying to ease his nerves a little. "I get that all the time!"

Meyumi shook her head. "Well, again, I'm sorry, Shigure-san, it was nice meeting you." She bowed and turned away from him, walking away.  
  
Shigure watched her walk off and smirked. "She was kinda cute. I should have gotten her number. Well, it's too late now."  
  
  
  
It was between classes, and Izunami was trying to get to class, but was being yelled at by a hall monitor. "I told you," she yelled, "This IS my natural hair color! I tell you that every day. I'm not going to dye my hair just so you can pretend you actually HAVE power!"  
  
"That CANNOT be your natural hair color," the hall monitor shouted back.  
  
"But it is!" she sighed, leaning back against the lockers.  
  
Today, it just so happened that a certain grey-haired boy was in the hall while this common scene was going on. He walked over to the hall monitor, and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "If my cousin's hair could be his natural color, how are you so sure that this cannot be her natural hair color?" He knew that the reason Haru's hair was so strange was because of the curse, and obviously this girl wasn't a part of that, but he felt bad for the poor girl who obviously was harassed every day.  
  
The hall monitor looked to the boy. "Yu-Yuki! I was just, trying to-"  
  
"You were just trying to harass her. That's not your job."  
  
The hall monitor nodded. "Ye-yes, you're right!" With that, he took off down the hallway running.  
  
Izunami looked to the boy and bowed. "Thank you, he never leaves me alone about my hair, and I swear it's natural."  
  
The boy smiled at her. "I understand, I'm glad to help you. "I'm Yuki Sohma, a second year."  
  
"Izunami Akuma, second year as well." She smiled. When she looked at him, she got a strange feeling, like she was supposed to hate him. But he had just helped her, how could she hate him? "Oh, I have to get to class!" she exclaimed. She bowed once more and took of down the hallway, running.  
  
"It was nice to meet you, Akuma-chan!" He shouted down the hallway to her. "I hope to see you around!" He shook his head. He had felt like he had been getting strange vibes from her. No, that was crazy. He'd been around Hanajima too long. He smiled a bit, then went to class.  
  
  
  
Kioko sighed as she walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Izunami had told her about a boy saving her from the hall monitor; she wished she had a knight in shining armor like that. Suddenly, as she was coming around the corner, a flash of orange appeared in front of her face, and she connected with a body. With a loud poof and a column of smoke, a small orange cat appeared and grabbed the clothes that had materialized on the floor, dashing off into the custodian's closet. It looked out through a crack and found nobody to be in the hallway. Confused, it walked out into the hallway, "I don't get it," it said. "I transformed, but where's the girl?" It walked around for a few seconds before colliding with something. It looked up and screamed in a surprisingly human tone as it realized it was staring straight into the face of a black panther.  
  
  
  
A/N: And there we go, chapter 2 of Juunishi no Daaku! I hope you enjoyed it, and be on the lookout for Chapter 3, coming soon to a near you!

Billy: looks around cautiously before entering =D Hahahaha! I am back; this time to tell you to….. Commence the jiggling… jumps as he hears voices nearby And now…. I must go! Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!!


	3. A Dark Zodiac?

Disclaimer: I do not own FB, as much as I wish I could oO

A/N: Well, my turn to write my chapter, eh? I'm name: No Chichiri Da) and I'm gonna be the third writer of this fic. Though, the order may switch under certain circumstances. Anyways, I've been wanting to write this for so long so this should turn out a good chapter The main focus is the discovery of the second zodiac for both families and what each family head plans to do about it.

Juunishi no Daaku

Chapter 2 

A Dark Zodiac?

Both felines stared in complete and utter terror when they came face to face. The Cat noticed the panther carrying a schoolgirl uniform on its back. 'No, this can't be right!' He thought in confusion.

"Hey Akio-san, I thought I heard something by the janitor's closet…Perhaps you should check to see if there are some kids trying to have a little 'fun' if you know what I mean." A sly male voice echoed through the hallway.

A sigh could be heard from the other janitor. "You always make me do the worst jobs, you know that?" Heavy footsteps could be heard approaching the closet, forcing the panther to pick t he cat up by the scruff and carry him hastily into the closet.

"You idiot! Why are you--?!" Kyo's eyes widened. He just talked in his animal form to someone he didn't even know who, but seeing as she also somehow transformed he sighed and continued, "…taking us back to the closet?"

The panther gave an almost-human-like grin. "It's the closest place to hide, you're small enough to hide behind those buckets and I'll manage my way behind the mops. Hurry!" She spoke in a low voice. She nudged the smaller feline behind the buckets, causing him to yelp, and then wiggled her way behind the mops in the dark corner to blend in and hide.

The door suddenly creaked open and a heavy-set man's silhouette could be seen in the doorway. "Alright kiddies, get to your sex-ed class for once and learn abstinence is—and I'm talking to myself aren't I? Thank God…" He mumbled and shut the door. "False alarm. Let's keep going."

"Alright." Footsteps could be heard growing further and further away. Well, the next sound surprised both cats. There was a small poof and two humans sat naked hiding behind the buckets and mops.

Kyo, not even remembering that they were both naked, stared in complete shock at the girl. "You--?!"

Kioko's eyes widened and she blushed scarlet, wrapping an arm around herself to cover up and the other one felt its way along the floor to find her clothes. "Who are you?!" she cried after feeling a sudden connection to him. She found her clothes and clumsily grabbed them and put them on.

Kyo frantically searched for his clothes as well. "Who are YOU?!" He practically screamed. He also felt that connection, and it irked him. Could she _really_ be…?

Kioko sighed. "Would you be quieter or shut up? Those janitors probably heard you and will come back and find us!" She growled, getting up briskly and brushing off her uniform.

The Cat pulled his clothes on as did the same. "They do, they die! I won't let anyone live who walks in on me in the same closet as some pesky girl!" He spoke arrogantly and burst through the door.

Kioko narrowed her eyes. "You never answered my question." She began, walking out of the closet after him. "Just who are you?"

Kyo glanced at her with an odd look in his eyes. "My name's Kyo Sohma. Yours?" He replied somewhat hesitantly. He may as well give the girl his full name so she'd be forced to give hers, and then tell Shigure to discuss this with Akito. He wanted to know what the hell was going on.

The girl's look softened a little at the not-so-harsh response. "Kioko Akuma. I'm a second year…I think I've heard your name before, you're a second year as well aren't you?" Her conversation with him got cut off by a yell:

"HEY!"

Both spun around instantly in shock. One of the hall monitors ran to them angrily. "Why aren't you two in class?!" Kioko quickly held up a pass signed by her teacher to go to the bathroom, but Kyo remained still with an aggravated look on his face; detention for Kyo, yet again.

"Meyumi!" The three high school girls cried in unison as they burst in through the door. "We have a problem!" Kioko finished.

Meyumi nodded. "You felt it too, didn't you?" Her eyes darkened slightly. "I'm going to have to have a talk with Kazuo-sama." Suddenly her bright exterior seemed to be absent, which was something the girls didn't normally see.

Kioko sighed and looked down. "This is a little different, Yumi-chan. I ran into a boy and, and, and…I wasn't the only one who transformed." She spoke, her words spoken faster and faster until she was finished.

Meyumi looked up from her painting, revealing a half-finished acrylic painting of a wolf howling from a cliff to a full moon. "I knew it. What was his name, did you get it?"

"Kyo Sohma." Takara spoke for her.

"And if they have this same curse as us…We have more classmates at our school with this curse." Izunami finished. "Among them are Yuki, Hatsuharu and Momiji Sohma."

Meyumi's eyes widened a moment, and then narrowed into a slight smile. "Hmmm, I knew there was something weird about that man…" She murmured to herself, causing the other girls who couldn't understand to glance to one another in confusion. "Alright, I'll have to speak with Kazuo-sama about this." She spoke.

"Yumi-chan…" Takara spoke, staring at her seriously. "Are you hiding something from us?"

The silver-haired woman just gazed back before brightening up a second later. "Of course not, I'm just as confused as you; my, what a situation--!"

Izunami cut her off: "You're terrible at lying, Meyumi-san. Why can't you tell us what's going on?"

Meyumi sighed. "If Kazuo-sama wants you to know, you'll know." Was her simple answer before she walked outside to her car, a door slamming and engine starting soon to be heard.

Kioko watched her cousin drive away. "That certainly didn't clear this situation up at all." She faced her other cousins and shrugged. "Perhaps she can tell us what's going on when she gets back." The others nodded and they all slung their backpacks securely back onto their backs and headed upstairs to their rooms to do their homework for the night.

Meyumi pulled her car up to the circle drive of the Akuma Estate. Turning the key and pulling it out to turn the car off, she got out, locked the car and headed inside. She quirked an eyebrow, noticing no one was standing around monitoring the lobby. It didn't matter; she knew where Kazuo's office was. She headed down the main hallway and headed straight down to a door with a small gold sign with 'Kazuo Akuma' imprinted into the metal. She knocked. "Kazuo-sama?"

"Come in." A neutral, welcoming voice spoke pleasantly. He nodded to Meyumi as she walked in and sat down at one of the chairs in front of his desk. He was a small man, very skinny and ill-looking. His hair was a bronze-red color and was combed neatly to the side. He wore a black business suit and a red and black tie. Gold eyes gazed upon the silver-haired woman. "What is it that you came to talk to me about?"

"The second zodiac. They're here in this city, Kazuo-sama. How do you plan to act?" Meyumi spoke. All playfulness that she displayed to the girls at home seemed to disappear in that moment. "You know what could happen."

The family leader simply smiled. "Let's watch them for a while. There's no need to fear or hate them unless we're given reason to." He spoke, his voice still full of neutrality.

She sighed. "Kazuo-sama. I ran into one of them on the street today. I almost couldn't contain my sudden anger toward him. The legend is the only explanation and obviously to our animal spirits it's all we need to be eternally angry with that family. The girls say there are four other zodiacs attending Kaibara High School as well, and they felt the same sensation of hate."

Kazuo nodded gently. "I understand. But you must not harm them. If anything, try to bond with your matching zodiac if you ever run into them." He replied coolly.

Meyumi blinked. "Matching zodiac…?" Suddenly she thought back to when she passed Shigure and go that odd feeling of hate and disgust. _'I'm sorry, it's just, you reminded me so much of a dog just then.'_ Her line played over in her head. So that's what he meant by their matching zodiac. Maybe he other girls bumped into their other matching zodiacs, which could have been the main trigger to their anger. Yet, Takara ran into Hatsuharu and Momiji and still felt that anger.

She nodded soon after. "I understand. Should I tell the girls the truth about the zodiac?"

"Meyumi, Izunami, Takara, and Kioko Akuma, hm?" Akito's voice spoke quietly. He was hanging outside his window, his arm sticking straight out from the window. His eyes were narrowed slightly, but they showed no sorrow or anything of the sort.

"Shigure-san told me to tell you that message." Hatori stood at the door. "What do you believe we should do?" He finished.

Akito's eyes only narrowed more, his lips curling into a smirk, but did not respond. The silence was enough of an answer to Hatori. The doctor's face appeared emotionless and then closed his eyes.

"I understand. Sorry for bothering you, Akito-san." He murmured in response and turned, opened the door and exited the room, heading off to his own room. He sighed. "Is this right? Should I really follow this order?" He murmured aloud.

A/N: Blah I know I rushed the end but I'm so happy. I haven't finished a chapter in three hours for YEARS! OO dramatic gasp hehe :P Anyways…Early chapter suspicion… And poor Kyo xD lol. Anyway. Next chapter Takara shall write. See you when Chapter 7 comes around!

Hiya, Toshi-chan here, I'm gonna answer some of the reviews we've gotten to this point… shouldn't take too long -

Oh, and one other thing, we got our first flame! - cheering is heard as we begin roasting marshmallows for s'mores  
  
S.L. Chanco- - thanks for your support! - it's very much appreciated, and while Yuki is in fact also a girl's name, to avoid confusion of characters (and possible copywrite flames) we chose a different name.  
  
crystaldreams611- - Thank you very much! Yes, poor cat… always poor kitty cat sob XD

Luna- Erm… Aye Aye, Cap'n! -;;; I'm glad you're taking an interest ( ? ) in our story, and I hope you continue reading!

stardust rain- smiles Hello there angry Chinese flamer girl! - How are you today?? I'm guessing you won't be reading this since you despise our story so much for being 'ignorant', 'idiotic', and 'offending'. Okay, first of all, I'm not sure exactly how much of the story you read, but lemme make a few things clearer, kay?

· wee bullets! They probably won't show up… Okay, most important thing you must remember about ; this is a fan FICTION site. The stories here are fan ideas about how the characters, storyline, etc could be different. All of this is for amusement purposes only (unless otherwise stated) and none of it is REAL. Sure, the actual stories themselves might be based off of real facts, but not all fan fiction is.

· Also, unless you caught this or not, this story is obviously an Alternate Universe type fanfiction; it's not completely based off the original storyline, because the story, obviously, did not go like this.

· We're happy you have pride for your heritage and culture, that's really cool and all, but dude, you really need to lighten up on this. This story was not meant to be offensive in any way, and you seem to be the only one having a problem with this. When the summary said "The part of the legend previously left out" it didn't mean we were saying the Chinese stupidly left it out, the legend's a way to explain where the other zodiac came from. We realize our story is sue categorized just by having the other zodiac in it, but we're trying to curb all other 'sue' tags. One of those major ones are stories where the other zodiacs just appear out of nowhere with no explanation or history at all. The zodiac legend was a way of giving them a point of origin.

· If you didn't read the whole thing you probably didn't notice that not only did I include the banquet mentioned in the FB Anime, but I also researched a bit and included the big race as well. Don't call me ignorant, because I don't appreciate it after researching to make that first chapter.

· We read your profile, you mentioned that you would ignore and humiliate flamers; well that's all good and well, and to be expected of a 14 year old, but you'll grow out of it. We don't do things that way; rather we try to defend ourselves and try to open your mind just a little bit more than it was previously. So yes, thanks for reading whatever you did, and if you come back, please take what we've said into consideration before reviewing again, thank you; have a nice day. -

Oh, and there are other ways to insult people without cussing your brains out. I'm sure you have a nice angry vocabulary in there somewhere; do us a favor and use it next time? You'll come off more intelligently, and we won't pass you off as some vulgar little girl either.


	4. Enter the Reptile Confrontation!

Disclaimer: In no way, shape or form do I own Fruits Basket. Only my character, Takara, is pwned, by ME!

A/N: Takara Arashi here writing chapter 3, There's going to be more of the Souhma family, and what they think about the Akuma's.

Juunishi no Daaku 

Chapter 3 

The first rays of light beamed gently through Tohru's window, as the curtains danced with the soft breeze that flowed through the room. Slowly awakening to the sounds of birds chirping outside the window, she slowly lifted herself from the bed, rather weakly. Adjusting her vision, she smiled at how pretty the curtains looked right then and there, silhouetting the sunrise.

The first thoughts that filled her mind were the ones that were bothering her all last night. She was still wondering about it too. It seemed that everybody in the household had been acting rather paranoid, as if they were trying to keep a secret from her, especially Kyou. She hid her worry with a bright smile that could bring happiness to anyone's world as she made her way from her bed, almost stumbling over in the process.

Tohru stretched and slowly paced to the window, breathing in the fresh morning air and headed downstairs to begin making a splendid breakfast for the Souhma's. She smiled to the familiar orange-headed neko-boy as she passed him, but blinked when he hardly seemed to notice her. Kyou seemed to be deep in thought; it was the secret words they've been keeping from her yesterday.

Tohru almost felt saddened at this, but turned back to the kitchen, and putting up another bright smile at the food that awaited her cooking expertise, began to make breakfast. Thoughts rushed through her head, more reassuring ones at that. _'Maybe he just didn't get enough sleep'_.

She glanced at the clock and smiled a bit; _'Sohma-kun probably wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, and Kyou-kun, well... he was Kyou-kun',_ so she took her time preparing their morning meal.

The brunette was almost startled as a sudden voice pierced the quiet room. "Good morning, Tohru-kun!" Shigure lazily stepped into the kitchen, covering up a yawn.

"Oh, good morning Shigure-san; what brings you to be up so early?" She spoke, still smiling with her inhuman cheerfulness.

Shigure raised his finger as if he were about to say something but was cut off. Sighing, he hung his head as two other juunishi members trampled through the kitchen door arguing, sounding as a cat and a mouse, were locked in mortal combat.

"Oh my…" Tohru spoke with a sweatdrop. "Good morn—"

"Damn rat! Ya think I care that 'you're not a morning person'?!" Kyou mocked, continuing his speech. "Look me in the damn eye, and tell me that I care!" The cat shouted, whipping a finger and pointing it to himself, receiving a nasty glare from the other boy. Yuki had been yelling at him about waking him up much earlier than he was used to, as if it meant something to Kyou.

Yuki whapped him over the head with an irritated look. "Tohru just tried to greet you, you stupid cat. Show some respect to the one who does the housekeeping around here." He replied in his calm tone accented with the arrogance that he normally held towards the cat.

"Feh, it's not like you people acknowledge me anyway!" The hot-tempered cat sneered, stubborn as ever. "You pretty much banished me to the roof!"

Yuki smirked. "Would you prefer the woods?"

"Would you two stop shouting already?" Shigure sighed, half in irritation, half sleep-deprived. He knew this would just lead to another broken wall or paper door, in his beloved home. "Do you think Tohru-kun enjoys listening to you two bicker every time either of you catch a glimpse of each other?" At this, either boy shut up instantly and turned opposite ways, cheeks puffed, causing Tohru to smile a bit, turning slightly red in embarrassment that involving her like that, stopped the fighting.

"I'm just…Not feeling well from…the events yesterday…" Kyou mumbled in his version of an apology and sat down without a word at the table. Shigure was right; behind Tohru's smile they probably annoyed her like hell when they fought.

Yuki gave Tohru a concerned look, causing the neko-jin to grumble and roll his eyes. "I apologize if we annoyed you at all, Honda-san." He looked regretful, but was quickly re-assured as the girl blushed again, receiving a charming smile quickly from the boy.

Tohru smiled in embarrassment and held her hands up. "Oh, no, no! I wish you wouldn't fight, but it's certainly not annoying! I understand you two have a grudge against each other and can't help it!" she nervously chuckled as the two exchanged glances and looked to her. Dead silence.

"Ehem," Shigure started, tapping on his door, grinning slightly. "So, Tohru-kun, when's breakfast going to be ready?" he chirped, causing the girl to almost flip. Oh my, she'd forgotten about breakfast during all the commotion! "Oh my! I'm so sorry! I'll get on that right away!" She did a complete 180 that would put Tony Hawk's to shame and darted to the counter, chopping up vegetables and fruits faster than anything they'd ever laid eyes on before.

The three sweatdropped and stared as she darted around the kitchen for a minute, the short-tempered cat deciding to break the silence among them. "Well, I'm going upstairs." He mumbled, turning and heading for the staircase, climbing it as the other two boys paid no attention. Yuki quickly snapped out of his trance and headed for the couch in the living room, not making a noise.

Shigure just sighed softly, watching the girl work in the kitchen, which managed to somehow cheer him up a little. The loyal canine grinned in amusement as she jumped about, gathering ingredients here, pouring something there. Oh the joy of having a wonderful woman in the house, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, basically everything a guy could ask for.

Before Shigure knew it, breakfast was basically done and she was calling for everyone as she set up the dining table nice and neatly, causing him to snap out of his daydreams. He didn't even have time to turn around before Yuki and Kyou were fighting for 'first entry' through the kitchen door. Shigure backed off, not wanting to involve himself in the pety argument, eventually remembering his…

…house…

A huge crash, and the cat and mouse were both on the ground, with shattered wood and sticks among them, torn paper covered the two as they twitched irritably. "This is all your fault!" Kyou sneered, putting the blame on the boy beside him. "Baka neko, you shoved yourself by me, causing this to happen!" he glared back in annoyance. The hot-tempered neko-jin tried to jump up on his own, tripping on his feet and back into the pile of debris.

"Get… off!" Yuki growled, shoving the orange-haired boy away from him, tearing more paper from the wall. "Look what you're doing!" Kyou shouted louder, now on his feet with a finger pointing accusingly towards the rest of the house. "It wouldn't have happened if you had some patience!" Yuki mumbled, carefully getting up and brushing himself off. The boy infront of him twitched in anger.

"You wanna take this outside, Rat!?" He clenched his fist, throwing a hand to the side, pointing to the doorway. "I'll be more than HAPPY to kick your ass!" He continued, steam rolling from his ears. Yuki closed his eyes and sighed, realizing where he was.

"Would you calm down, baka neko; Tohru-kun has breakfast ready for us and you're-" he was cut off by more screaming from Kyou. "What're you, scared? You think I care about breakfast!? I don't need it!" He turned and high-tailed it out of there, grabbing his backpack and slammed the door behind him.

Shigure sighed, looking down at the remains of the door. He whimpered, "My house…" Yuki sighed as well, looking to him, then to Tohru, who had the most fearful and concerned look on her face. "Terribly sorry for that… uhm.." he bit his lip, that damn cat left all the blame on him!

_'What to do… what to do…'_ he debated quickly, making his way to the table and kneeled, flashing his same charming smile to the girl, chasing away her worries as he quickly saw a wave of relief wash over her, and she smiled brightly. Looking over to Shigure, Tohru beamed her cheerful smile and spread her arms, "Come now! Sit down, breakfast is ready!" Shigure grinned in return and patted her on the head as he made his way past, and towards the table. "Ah, it looks delicious!" The dog acknowledged as he kneeled down, giving his thanks before picking up his chopsticks. "It is delicious." Yuki backed up his comment, continuing to slowly eat.

Tohru smiled and sighed happily as they enjoyed, bringing herself to eventually join them and eat as well. Everything seemed fine for the time being, but the thought about the secret words that roamed the Souhma household, were nagging at her in the back of her mind. She couldn't seem to keep her curiousity under control, yet she forced herself to.

_'It's surely none of my business, and if they want me to know, then they'll tell me!' _She told herself over and over inside her head, each time different as she tested which word-rearrangement worked best to cheer her up.

The awkward silence seemed to linger in the air for quite a while as the other two happily enjoyed their delicious meal. Tohru knew them long enough to tell that they were thinking of other things though. Yuki set his chopsticks on his plate, causing a small ring to pierce through the air and interrupt the girl's thoughts.

She quickly snapped back to reality and smiled. "Did you like it!?" She perked up, rising and taking his plate. Yuki grinned and nodded, "I did, thank you again Tohru-kun." She nodded back as Shigure decided to chime in as well, "If it weren't for your lovely cooking, we'd all starve!"

Tohru frowned inside slightly, keeping her happy exterior. She was looking at Kyou's plate of food that was devoured by the other two, and herself when they decided her wasn't coming back til after school. _'I hope he finds something to eat…'_ her thoughts trailed off and she sighed, catching the attention of both boys as she took Shigure's plates.

"Is there something bugging you, Tohru-kun?" Shigure looked up at her curiously finishing his drink. She jumped, realizing that she had sighed aloud. "Nothing at all! Just a little worried about Kyou. He didn't eat at all…" she bit her lip and took the dishes to the sink and gently placed them in.

"Pfft, that man has faced worse." Yuki replied, taking his stand, imagining Kagura running after Kyou at top speed, annihilating everything in her path to get to him. He almost twitched and looked down to Shigure, who was getting up as well. The dog stretched and gained his balance, grinning broadly. "Getting old in my age, ne?" He joked, receiving a small grin from the other boy.

Tohru finished the dishes rather quickly, turning and walking to the boys. "Well, school's about to start." Shigure perked up and rolled his kimono sleeve up, checking his watch, then looked back up to the two. "Ah, she's right! You two better get going!" He smiled as they passed him, gathering their bags quickly.

"Tohru-kun, would you like to walk with me?" The prince put on a charming smile in all his glory, as invisible cherry blossom petals danced around the two. Tohru blushed in response, feeling honored to be asked such a question. "S-sure!" she smiled happily, walking to him with a bit of bounce in her step.

Shigure sweatdropped as the two walked out of the door, and glanced back down to the debris and mess on the floor, sighing heavily and began to clean up.

Kyou walked down the hall, watching as everyone passed by. _'No odd feelings yet'_, he thought, almost convincing himself that yesterday was a lie. Another thought arose in the back of his mind, clawing at him with each step through the hallway he took, each person he passed, every face he saw, he was thinking of that damned rat!

How he envied him! If it were that damned 'prince' walking down this stupid hallway, everyone would want to have him stop and interview, or talk, or something like that! But that's not the case, all he was, was a lowly citizen stuck in the world with a curse that loomed over him, haunting him for the rest of his life. Not only that, but he was left entirely out of the Souhma family, let alone the zodiac!

He absently clenched his fist, growling and not noticing the scared faces that quickly darted out of his way. "I'll beat that damned rat if it's the last thing I do!" Kyou grabbed the door to his classroom, and stormed on in. The remaining people were left in the hallway looking pale and almost relieved, deciding to continue on with their lives.

Yuki hid behind the corner of the hallway, looking to Tohru with an almost frightened look on his face. "They're waiting for me." He mumbled seriously as to what awaited him around the corner.

Bloodthirsty fangirls who wanted to pounce and rape him.

He sighed and looked over to Tohru. "You better get to your class, you don't want to be late now." He nodded reassuringly to the girl, as she smiled with a bit of concern and headed off, leaving him alone on the 'battlefield'. He took in a deep breath and made his way around the corner, quickly dodging a crowd of people asking him numerous dumb questions and practically ran to his class.

_'Almost there!'_ he reached the door, when the same odd feeling he got yesterday, struck him. He looked around quickly, and as soon as it came, it was gone. "What…" he started and was quickly hurried into his classroom, leaving the crowd outside the door frowning and teary-eyed. He sighed heavily and slowly made his way to his desk, taking his seat in the front of the classroom. He was tired of dodging hoards of fans every morning and after school as well. It was getting to the point of being purely ridiculous. Yuki didn't know if he could handle it any longer.

"You look like you're having fun." A sarcastic voice came from the back of the classroom, the mouse not realizing it was towards him until the familiarity of the voice struck him. He turned with an annoyed and irritated look on his face, "Shut up, baka neko." A simple 'hmph' was the reply as he turned back around to face the front of the classroom, relaxing in his desk.

_'Stupid cat doesn't know what it's like to be me. He has it so easy… I actually… envy him.'_ Yuki closed his eyes, and entered his own deep thoughts.

The sensei entered and took her place in the front of the classroom, beginning with a greeting, the rest of the class absently greeting back, sounding rather dull and lifeless. She continued on with her duties, and into the lecture.

Kyou was busy minding his own thoughts, wondering about the Panther-chick that had bumped into him yesterday. Thoughts of her, and what had happened filled his mind. Flashbacks began to flood him…

Both felines stared in complete and utter terror when they came face to face. The Cat noticed the panther carrying a schoolgirl uniform on its back. 'No, this can't be right!' He thought in confusion.

He narrowed his eyes, not a word was spoken today at the house of these matters. _'Damn that Shigure! He was keeping it all to himself, that selfish dog!'_ he declared to himself, mumbling incoherently under his breath as the lecture continued on, whether or not he was paying attention.

He really didn't care, he just wanted some answers! If there was another that could transform, there must be others as well! He needed to find out… the anxiety was rushing through him; he absently clawed at the desk in anticipation, wanting to get up and run off somewhere else to think. The constant talking of this teacher was getting on his nerves! The hair on Kyou's neck rose as an annoyed expression crept upon his face, holding in the urge to get up and bust out of the classroom. It took a lot of self-control, but he could handle it! Couldn't he!?

_'Look at that damned rat! Just sitting up there all calm, almost dozing off! He probably forgot all about what happened!'_ He twitched. _'Okay, calm… need to calm down, Kyou, before you jump out the window.'_ His eyes trailed over to the open window which held a breeze that openly flowed through the room. That wasn't such a bad idea, actually. Just jump through the window, Kyou! Worry everyone else and run off! No, NO! Must stay here… must… stay… screw it!

Kyou jumped up and stormed out of the classroom, yelled something back that he was getting sick. The sensei just blinked, almost worried and nodded to the door, quickly marking down his sudden absence.

_'What does that baka neko think he's doing?'_ Yuki glared at the door, then his attention snapped back to the sensei who coughed for everyone's attention and continued her lecture.

He sighed quietly and went back to his thoughts, those thoughts that haunted him, and lured him back to the debating that was going on inside his mind, that involved the 'other family'. Yuki figured that Kyou was getting frustrated over it too, as he was, but he didn't show it as much as the other did. Giving up, the mouse sought it fit to pay attention the rest of the class period, rather than dwelling on such a confusing subject.

"Miss. Honda, are you alright?" Sensai-sama asked as the girl snapped out of her trance, looking slightly pale. "Oh? I'm fine, just feeling a little feverish." She smiled softly to the teacher, who glanced at her again. "Alright, then; if you're sick, then just tell me." Tohru nodded in response and looked back down to her studies. Since she had left the house, she had felt a bit sick to her stomach, with a slight fever taking over after.

She couldn't seem to concentrate either, thoughts hung over her, those that she wished none to listen to, since she titled them 'depressing'. Quickly smiling and disregarding her current fever, she closed her book. The clock announced to the rest of the class that it was almost time to start the next lesson, but first would be a short break. She really needed it, too.

"Remember to write that four page report now, it's due next Monday." Sensai-sama reminded them, smiling. Easy for her to say; _'although she did have to grade all those papers, average them out and a ton of other work.'_ Tohru glanced back at the teacher who continued speaking. "Those who wish to turn them in early will get five extra points added onto their paper." She added, nodding to the students as half of them grumbled to themselves. The classrooms got up, bowed and were off into the halls for their short break.

Yuki sighed, wanting to just give up avoiding all of his fangirls and go relax. Although he had no choice, so he began mission impossible, yet again, just like every other day. He stopped by one of the windows that lined the building and caught a glimpse of orange in the scenery of green. Spotting the unique color, he quickly recognized what, or rather who, it was. _'What's he doing?'_ Yuki thought to himself as he squinted his eyes.

The other boy appeared to be sitting in a tree, relaxing in his own world. _'What if I could cut class like that.'_ The mouse rolled his eyes and continued on his way, avoiding the crowd that awaited him at the end of the hall. Making his way around them, he spotted Tohru, smiling with relief he made his way towards her.

"Hello." His simple greeting startled her. She looked up and smiled back happily "Souhma-kun! How are you?" she asked, receiving an almost regretful look. Chuckling, she brushed some hair off of his uniform. "You look stressed. Well, I mean, who wouldn't with all those people after you." Tohru winced, pinning the nail on the head, and chuckled nervously. Yuki just smiled at her and sighed again, "I'm getting tired of all these people."

The classes soon continued on, and lasted throughout the rest of the day. Kyou stayed in his tree until he heard the last bell, signaling freedom. Although he could have left whenever he wanted, he decided to stay and sleep for a little while. The sound of the bell piercing the air was only his alarm clock. Kyou stretched and cracking the bones in his back, before he began to climb down. He made his way lower and then leapt to the ground, landing gracefully crouched on his feet.

Standing, he brushed himself off and adjusted the strap to his backpack and made his way to the main walkway from the school to the gate exit, automatically being joined in conversation with some of the other students. "You don't look sick, Kyou-kun." One of the boys grinned and nudged him. "Eh..." he sweatdropped and remembered running out of the classroom yelling he was. "Well, I wasn't feeling good, that's all!" He declared, continuing off the school grounds, parting from the other guys after short conversing.

Kyou walked alone, like he always did. He rarely had anyone to walk with him, save for Tohru who was probably the only one, and that wasn't too often either. He took a different route than anyone else did. He had always made his way from the city, through the forest and walked his own path, eventually reaching the Souhma residence, but this time he absently just took the normal way that damned Rat, Yuki took. He felt as if he was shaming himself for taking it, but at the same time he wanted to see what was so good about it as well.

Down the sidewalk, he watched as vehicles passed by. Nothing really out of the ordinary, quite boring from the walk he always took. Where he went, there was entire scenery that you could just sit and relax in for hours. Here, it's just people walking and driving to their destinations. The straight road in life, he guessed. Kyou wondered if anyone else ever took time to wander down other paths.

Before he knew it, the same odd feeling he had gotten earlier that day hung over him. It seemed as if it were in slow motion as he passed a weird girl. She had sandy blonde hair and eyes that seemed to glance right through him. As if she knew what he was thinking or something, or maybe it was just him and she was questioning the same things that were running through his mind at that point.

_'Is this girl part of the other family?'_ he thought to himself as he stopped walking and watched as she passed by, quickly disregarding the boy and continued on. They were walking in opposite directions, so he just looked back and watched her walk away. _'Is that family full of girls, or what?'_ he continued questioning himself, obvious that he wasn't getting any answers at all. He snapped back from his trance when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Kyou whipped around quickly.

"Whoa, calm down, neko-kun." Kyou twitched as he glanced up at the guy. White hair, underlined with black, creepy eyes, uniform shirt with a few buttons undone. It just had to be Haru. "Nice back end she has, eh?" Haru nodded in the direction the girl disappeared to. Kyou looked absently, then twitched, realizing the trap Haru had made him fall into. He whipped about and swung his fist to knock Haru upside the head as hard as he could, but instead his wrist was caught in the process. The taller boy snickered as Kyou struggled to get free and finally gave up, almost sinking to the ground like jelly.

Haru let go and Kyou nursed his wrist while glaring at him. "Stupid cow…" he mumbled under his breath, grabbing the strap to his pack and readjusted it, turning and stalked off, with the taller boy quickly on his heels to catch up to him. He walked beside him when catching up, looking to the cat with a smirk. "So, why were you checking that girl out? She's part of the other family, if I'm correct." Haru's smirk turned into a grin as Kyou stopped in his tracks and waved his fist accusingly. "I was NOT checking her out! There was his weird vibe in the air and she caught my attention, alright!?" he shouted at the cow, who just grinned back. "Right." Was his only reply as the other boy folded his arms and they kept walking.

"Hmm, I wonder where she was going." Haru thought aloud, looking to Kyou, hoping he had an answer to give him. The cat just looked back with an irritated expression, as if he were telling him 'How should I know!?'. Haru shrugged and looked up at the sky. What a nice day it was, some clouds to keep it cool and warm enough to enjoy it. A flock of bird flew by overhead and he grinned, deciding to pay the Souhma's a visit, and to get some questions from Shigure. He knew he had the answers.

Shigure sat at his desk, working on the few pages of his chapter that was due within the next few days. He grinned, knowing he had enough time to finish it in the time due, but was working on it so he could torture his editor ahead of time. He tapped the pencil to his cheek and pushed his reading glasses up, glancing over the work he had completed so far, reviewing it. His attention was quickly caught elsewhere as he heard another door to the home open, and familiar footsteps making their way in.

He realized that it was time for the others to come home, grinning happily he got up and walked out of his office, spreading his arms to greet the two that had arrived in the living room. "Welcome home!" He grinned, Yuki could of swore he'd imagined a puppy tail and ears on the man, as happy as he was. Shigure was like a dog when it's family comes home from being out of the house for the day.

"So loyal." Yuki grinned and waved, making his way upstairs. "Tohru-kun! How was your day at school?" Shigure grinned and looked at her curiously as she smiled happily and replied, "It was alright! I felt slightly feverish though earlier…" She looked at him almost as if she had regretted telling him that. As soon as the words left her mouth, Shigure's hand was placed upon her forced with a serious expression. "Hmm… you do seem to be a bit warm, Honda-san." He looked at her, smiling like an idiot. _'Her skin's so soft'_ he thought to himself with a blissful look. "Well then you better get some rest!" He nodded.

"Stupid dog, get your hands off Tohru!" Kyou smacked him upside the head. "Perverted old man!" He shouted afterwards, folding his arms. Shigure whined, cursing himself for not noticing Kyou walk in. He looked over to the cat who seemed quite annoyed, and another person's here! Shigure looked over and grinned, _'Well look what the cat dragged in'_ he waved to Haru, unaware of the pun he made to himself.

Haru waved back, "Yo!" He walked over to the cow, who was looking around at the house. "Doesn't seem like much has changed… uh, except for that broken wall over there." He nodded to the wall that had been torn apart earlier and Shigure sighed, waving his hand to disregard that, "Yes, yes. Kyou and Yuki fought this morning and that was the result." The cow's eyebrow quirked, and Shigure shrugged.

"Anyways, I came here to ask a few questions," Haru looked around, noticing everyone had left the room and continued, quieting his voice. "-On the 'other family'." Shigure looked at him rather oddly, "What kind of questions?" "Well… who are they!?" Haru's voice level was back to normal if not louder, gathering the attention of Kyou, that caused a chain reaction to gather Yuki and Tohru's. Shigure sighed and waved his hand.

"Alright everyone, sit down. I'll explain."

Takara made her way across the street, avoiding traffic with ease. Her hair stood out because of its light sandy blonde-color, causing people to give her funny looks. She just flashed them a grin as she passed, stopping in front of a rather neat looking shop. It wasn't too big, yet wasn't too small. Her eyes instantly read 'Ayame' across the top, taking it that it was the store's title, like every other title that was written across the top of buildings. 'Duh' she mentally smacked herself and grabbed the door handle, opening it.

A bell jingled above, signaling her entry as she entered. Everything was layered with beautiful royal colors. Her kind of store! Her eyes lit up at the red carpet and gold racks that held samples of clothing and shelves upon shelves that lined the room, full of layers of fabric. Quite nice designs on the decorated fabrics she saw, too. Those were only the ones she saw, 'there was a ton of shit everywhere' she thought to herself and curiousity soon took over. Beginning to walk to one of the shelves, she glanced through the fabrics, touching and feeling them. Some of the fabric was silk, some was just soft, others slightly rough with weird textures, and some just solid colored and stood out.

Her attention was turned to a man with long white hair that bounded up to her. "Hello and welcome to my wonderful shop! My name's Ayame!" He cheerfully stated, slinging clothing over his arm and bowed gracefully. She almost flinched, a weird feeling overtaking her. Deep in her gut, she knew this was another member of the other family that was across town. She didn't really feel hatred towards the boy though, she grinned at his majestic ways and placed a hand on her hip.

"I'm Takara." She replied, watching the man rise with eyes that seemed to question her. She decided to ask first instead, "Are you part of that other family?" Her eyes trailed along the insides of the shop, listening for the answer. "Ah, so you are a member of the family I've been hearing about." Ayame responded, straightening up and looking at her seriously. Takara turned her gaze to him, nodding. "I'm not sure what to think, but you seem pretty nice! And you have a great taste in clothing." She grinned reassuringly, almost arrogantly, followed by Ayame.

"Why, thank you! Only the best." He gestured to the samples he held in his arms. "These are only a few of the orders that I'm working on for some happy couples that are getting married in a few days. These are for the honeymoon." The white-haired man winked and flashed what he'd been working on, as the projects in his hands seem to sparkle. He held a French maid outfit, lace and all, in one hand. In the other was simple white night gown that seemed to sparkle as well. Even with its simplicity, it shined. _'Damn, this guy is good with his work.'_ Takara grinned, baring a chuckle.

"That's very well done." She nodded to him, gaining a rather perky response. "Really?! You think? I, myself, think when they're finished they'll be even more fabulous than they are right now." Ayame grinned, continuing to show off his works. "Of course!" Takara replied, grinning back as well.

"So, what exactly does this shop sell?" She continued to glance around, and Ayame seemed to sparkle in all his glory while talking, "This shop, sells…" he grinned and draped both outfits over his right arm and motioned to the rest of the shop, "- Men's romance!"

Takara nodded as if she was suddenly enlightened. "Ah, I see." Smiling, she glanced back to him, and decided to ask another question, quietly this time. "So if your family can really transform… what do you transform into?" She quirked an eyebrow and watched him stutter. "W-well… that's really confidential." He laughed nervously. "Nobody outside the family is really suppose to know… but, maybe I could make an exception." He grinned and winked, taking her hand.

Takara sweat dropped, wondering if asking the question was a mistake or not. "Um… so, what are you?" She asked again. He moved closer, whispering into her ear with a lisp, holding the 's'. "Snake." Another look of enlightenment and she grinned, whispering back, "Lizard."

They both pulled back and grinned cheekily, giving each other thumbs up. "Right on, reptiles!" Both chimed cheerfully.


End file.
